Paddack eyes Opening Day start, postseason

SAN DIEGO -- Chris Paddack's 2016 Tommy John surgery was a frustrating setback for the entire Padres organization. The Friars were beyond thrilled to have landed Paddack in a trade with the Marlins that sent Fernando Rodney to Miami, but just a month later, the prized prospect Paddack was dealt a major injury blow.

Resolute as ever, Paddack set out to make the injury into a footnote for a successful big league career. He and the Padres collaborated on a plan. Paddack would miss the following season, then play a shortened 2018 campaign. He'd be given the chance to earn a big league callup in '19, but his workload would be monitored closely.

If everything went according to plan, Paddack would be fully unleashed in 2020. And, sure enough, everything went precisely according to plan. Until March.

Two weeks before Paddack's presumed Opening Day start, the baseball world shut down amid the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. That shutdown lasted about 3 1/2 months, until the Padres resumed formal workouts on Friday at Petco Park. They'll have three weeks to ramp up to a 60-game season, which will begin on July 23 or 24.

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"It's going to be 60 games of playoffs," Paddack said.

And Paddack intends to be ready for day one of those "playoffs." No, he isn't going to throw 200 innings this year, as he'd been prepping for. But however many innings he gets, he wants to make them count.

Paddack considers himself to be right on schedule. His next time on the mound will come in the Padres' nightly intrasquad game, and he expects to throw four innings. By Opening Day, he'd like to have a six-inning outing under his belt.

That isn't any different from where Paddack would've been for the originally scheduled Opening Day on March 26. The Padres hadn't yet named Paddack as their Opening Day starter in the spring, but he was lined up to do so and had seemingly earned it after a rookie season in which he posted a 3.33 ERA and a 0.98 WHIP. If, indeed, Paddack is the Padres' Opening Day starter, it’s not going to be the Opening Day that he envisioned.

"The word of the year is going to be 'adapt,'" Paddack said. “This is new for everybody. The coaching staff, front office, us as players, fans, the community of San Diego. Everything is new. Day by day, stay disciplined and make sure that we're not just looking out for ourselves but looking out for everyone around us."

In truth, the effects of a shortened season aren't going to hit Paddack in 2020. Assuming he stays healthy, Paddack will be turned loose and asked to pitch every fifth or sixth day. After one or two starts, the reins will likely be off, pitch-count wise.

But what happens to a pitcher who has steadily built his workload after surgery, from 90 innings in 2018 to 140 2/3 last season? How does Paddack handle a step back to, say, 70 innings in ‘20? The reality is that Paddack isn't the only pitcher facing that type of question, and teams just don't have those answers yet.

"Long-term, that's the million-dollar question in the industry," Padres manager Jayce Tingler said. "It's going to be very interesting going forward. Pitchers that are used to throwing close to their 200 innings and maybe they get to 60, 70, 80, 100 this year. I think we're going to learn a lot about the workload and how it affects them more next year and the years after."

In the short term, Tingler has a weapon for a shortened season. In fact, Paddack, Dinelson Lamet and Garrett Richards were all hindered by Tommy John-related restrictions last year, and the three will be turned loose in 2020.

"As far as this year goes, for Paddack and some of the guys, obviously we have to have good luck and good health, but I certainly don't see any limitations," Tingler said. "Definitely view that as a good thing."

Before every season, Paddack and his brother make a "goal board" for the upcoming campaign, and as the 2020 season draws closer, the two will make some alterations. At least one goal is off the table, however.

"I'm upset I can't get a Silver Slugger," Paddack quipped before conceding that he thinks the presence of a designated hitter will help the Padres, who have a bevy of options.

There are also a few goals on that board that absolutely will not change. Paddack wants the Padres to reach the postseason, he wants them to win the National League West and he wants to win the World Series. In his eyes, a shortened season does nothing to cheapen those goals.

"We've had this talk as a group: The champagne tastes the same," Paddack said, echoing the mantra brought forth by reliever Craig Stammen. "... It's going to be challenging for us players not being able to perform in front of 50,000 people and hearing all the chants and boos and excitement in the stadium, but that's why I think this year it's going to be the hardest to win, because you have to be so disciplined, not only on the field, but off the field.

"All of those little things have a factor in getting to October baseball. As a team, I think we're ready. ... We're three weeks away, and we're ready to go."